Phantom holding call on Logan Wilson

[|BlackJesus|]

One of the refreshing aspects of the Bengals playoff run until tonight, is it didn't seem the officiating was biased against them, and that the NFL didn't mind if they continued their improbable run. The 'conspiratorial' view is that the NFL didn't mind if the small market Bengals made it to the Super Bowl as they were a feel-good underdog story from Midwest "flyover" country, with a hot new QB they could market to both millennials and even the Nickelodeon slime crowd.

 

And then Cincinnati ran into the Rams Hollywood-made juggernaut, and their rich (by even NFL standards) owner who shelled out billions of his own money to build the Palace the game was being played in, playing what was essentially a home game Super Bowl in a city that the NFL has wanted to lay down roots in for decades. They even brought in the rappers from “Compton, Long Beach, Inglewood” for the full court press.

 

The NFL clearly would like to increase market share with the huge LA population where most people prefer soccer (a rarity within the US, but based on the large Mexican & Central American population) and even Basketball (Lakers history + bball courts are more prevalent in dense population centers than football fields). Southern California, an area with 23 million potential customers is the golden calf that the NFL has never been able to seize. Cincinnati by comparison, has about 1/23 the number of customers.

 

So, in a game with relatively few calls, where the refs let most things go for the first 58 and a half minutes, it became clear that the Rams were going to be given all the help the refs could reasonably provide to get in the end zone. Cue up 4 flags on the Bengals in 6 plays within the 7-yard line, including 3 automatic first down calls, beginning with an egregious 3rd and goal call on Logan Wilson that likely cost the Bengals the Super Bowl.

 

Under these conditions, this is apparently holding ...

 

 

 

But mind you, earlier in the game, this was not ...

 

 

Now of course, the refs didn't literally hand the Rams the victory. It is never that simple. For instance, the Bengals could have still driven down for the win on their last drive. Personally, I believe that if Boyd makes the 3rd down catch with 6 minutes left (his first drop of the entire season) the Bengals likely run out most of the clock and win the game. However, the unfortunate reality is the Bengals -- because of their place within the financial pyramid of the NFL -- cannot afford to leave the game in the hands of the refs. They need to win their games so convincingly, that the refs are never able to put their fingers on the scales to help fulfill larger corporate objectives. This doesn’t mean the NFL is “rigged” or that it is impossible for the Bengals to succeed, but it does mean they won’t often be given the breaks that others will, a reality I think that most Bengal fans are well familiar with over the last few decades watching Stealer games.

 

* And for those who would say, "what about the missed face mask on the Higgins TD", I would say: (a) that play itself calls the competency of the refs into question on its own, so not reassuring (b) under the "make up" call rationale, that was a make up call for the missed Ramsey holding on Higgins earlier in the game  (pictured). Meaning that the Logan Wilson bad call made the tally 2 to 1 again in the Rams favor. 

[|High School Harry|]

EVEN WORSE (IF POSSIBLE) THE RAMS CENTER WAS LATE SNAPPING THE BALL AND THE WHOLE FUCKING O LINE JUMPED OFF SIDES!!!!

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/replay-appears-show-critical-missed-052037463.html

[VonBlade]

I'm not too salty. Without Tee's obvious facemask we wouldn't be in a position to care whether they got a bunch of homer, "let's call it the Hollywood ending SB" calls at the end because the game was over anyway.

[saphead]

It was bad but it felt like the Rams weren't going to be denied down there. 

[I_C_Deadpeople]

What is that old saying - you never want to put yourself in a position to let the ref decide the game?

 

Refs missed about 20 calls on our OL for "QB abuse"

[Cricket]

When this play happened, I was actually watching Kupp on his route, and thought that he was held as he appeared to have been significantly slowed down by Logan.  
 

After watching the replays…and seeing this pic, it is now clear that Kupp was putting on the brakes because the pass was coming to a point behind where he was going to be.  His sudden deceleration was self-inflicted and was NOT caused by Logan.  Note the rubber pellets under Kupp’s lead foot in this pic, as he brakes.  
 

The referee incorrectly believed that Logan caused the sudden deceleration.

 

It’s a shame that that officiating mistake would happen on such a critical play late in the game.  If Stafford throws the ball two feet to the right, Logan may still be able to knock the ball down…but if he throws it three feet to the right, it’s likely a TD.  

[membengal]

3 hours ago, VonBlade said:

I'm not too salty. Without Tee's obvious facemask we wouldn't be in a position to care whether they got a bunch of homer, "let's call it the Hollywood ending SB" calls at the end because the game was over anyway.

But without Ramsey's hold on Tee in the first quarter that wasn't called we have 4 more points...

 

Point is... the refs allowed massive physical contact both ways ALL GAME until...then. That's what pisses me off. All any players ask for in a game is consistency in how a game is called so they can adjust. Both teams clearly were being physical as hell with each other on the edges and downfield and the refs were fine with it...until that. Which wasn't even a fucking hold. Just annoying as shit. 

[|BlackJesus|]

[|BlackJesus|]

[steggyD]

Don't forget the non called offside on our 4th and 1.

[|BlackJesus|]

Packers LB keeping it real ...